Method and apparatus for packaging beverages



06k. 31, 1944.. s AYERS 2,361,588

METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING BEVERAGES Original Filed Oct. 25, 1938 hubupanqodoibilldoubunnbcicunoo Samuez Jfen ydl era,

Patented Oct. 31, 1944 METHOD" AND APPARATUS FOR- PACKAGING BEVERAGES Samuel Henry; Ayers,:Baltimore, Md., .assignor to Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., Baltimore,

' Md., a corporation of; New York 3 Original application October .25, -'1938,-*Serial-No. 236,948. Dividedand this applica-tion May. 11, 1943, Serial No. 486,570

4 Claims.

The present invention .relates to methods and apparatus for-packaging beverages and; more particularly, tothe removal of airfrom receptacles containing beverages.

:iThenpresentapplication is a division of my application for Methods and apparatus for packaging beverages, Serial No. 236,948, filed October 25,1938.

. The principal object of the invention is to provide a'method andapparatusfor. removing air iromthe headspace. of a receptacle containing aWcar-bonated beveragesuch as beer or asoft drink.

.. -.In.filling.containers with carbonated beverages, and particularly beer, it is highly desirable to exclude air from the. headspace of the container, since it is. found thattheoxygenof such air causes, orat least accelerates, changes in the flavorxand turbidity of the. beer.

" Various means have been used to expel theair from the container headspace, but all such methods heretofore proposed-have involved certain variable factors. For example, one revious method has involved. tapping each bottle during its movement on the filling machine from the filling mechanism to the crowning. mechanism, the tapping means being arranged to strike each bottle and thereby agitate the contents so: that carbon dioxide would be liberated to expel the air from the headspace just prior to crowning. The diificulty with this method has been that since the Walls of the main or body portions of bottles of the same rated capacity may vary rather widely in thickness, the tapping mecha- 'nism had to be adjusted to strike the thickest possible container sufiiciently sharply to agitate the contents to the necessary extent. As a result, a bottle having a relatively thin wall would receive too sharp a blow, with the possibility that the beer therein would be agitated to such an extent that uncontrolled foaming would occur, with resultant waste.

By the method and apparatus of the present invention, heat is applied to the container to liberate carbon dioxide from the beverage to force the air from the container headspace, so that when the-container is subsequently sealed, substantially no air will be confined in the container with the beverage.

"Ihemethod and apparatus of myinvention, involving the applicationof heat to the container, :avoidsall variable factors encountered in the use ofprior apparatusand methods. For example, the temperature ofa beverage-When flowed into a container, can be'readilycontrolled, and the gas content of any batch-can. also bereadily ascertained. Thus if the temperature of. the heat employed in ,my invention is controlled, and also the length ofapplication of heat, novariable factors will be involved and substantially all air will be. positively forced from the headspace of the. container.

.By. -my invention, bubbles will rise from the liquid to form a foam which is stable, as distinguished from ordinary uncontrollable foaming similar to boiling. The foam formed by the present invention, particularly on beer, will remain in place for several minutes and, in every instance, will remain in place until the container can be sealed.

.Thus, by the use of the method and apparatus of the present invention, only suificient inert gas will be liberatedirom the'beverage to substantially remove all air from the container'headspace and I obviate all possibility of undesirable foaming, that is, such roaming as will continu indefinitely. I

A particular object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for producing foam in a beverage without moving any tube or fluid into the beverage.

' Some bottlers' object to methods of producing foam which involve the introduction of a nozzle or the like into the beverage, it being their position that these nozzles may become contaminated during:theirf'exposure to the surrounding air. Sonic: bottlers alsobb'ject to the-jetting of even inert gases or steam into beverages on the ground that thesemay change thefiavor of the beverage.

. .The present invention'overcomes-all such'obiections because it does'not involve. the movement of anozzle intothe-1-beverage or the. jetting of any substance into the beverage.

Another object of-the invention is .to provide an. apparatus.v for forming foamon a beverage which does. notrequire the provision of any parts which must be synchronized with .the movement of jfilling heads.

.Other. objects andadvantages of. the invention will be .apparent from .the attached'drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view. taken above the work table of a fillingmachine of Wellknown construction and showing a modified arrangement for heating containers;

- ;Fig ure2 is a vertical sectional view on theline 2"-2' of Figure Land Figure "3 is a view in vertical section showing a mechanismfor' partially immersing containers in suitably heated'water.

Containers, preferably cans, are removed from the filling table by a dial 40 which transfers them to the crowning mechanism I2. A tunnel M of generally inverted U-shaped form in vertical section overlies the portion of the transfer dial 40 about which containers move, and the can C will move through this tunnel when traveling from the filling table to the crowning mechanism. As best shown in Figure 2, the tunnel 4! encloses the upper portion of the can and is provided with bafile plates 42 between which the neck of the container passes, the baffles 42 thereby defining, with the top and upper side walls of the tunnel, a chamber 43 through which the upper portions of the bottles pass. Electrical heating units A l are provided on the inner surfaces of the side walls of the tunnel so that the air within the tunnel is maintained in a heated state. If desired, closed steam coils may be used as the heating means for the chamber 43. Thermostatic means may be provided in the chamber 43 to control its temperature.

By the arrangement shown in Figures 1 and 2, the upper portions of the containers will pass through a body of highly heated air so that the upper portions of the containers as well as the upper portion of the contents of the container will be heated to a sufficient degree to cause carbon dioxide to rise, usually in the form of compact controllable foam, from the upper part of the liquid within the containers.

It is to be noted that the tunnel M is kept in a heated state by heating the air therein. The use of heated air is found to be highly desirable since it does not cause such an increase in pressure within the chamber as would prevent carbon dioxide from freely rising from the beverage. For example. if free steam were used within the tunnel, the atmosphere within the tunnel would be under some pressure and, as a result, the carbon dioxide could not readily rise from the beverage.

It will be noted that the structure of Figures 1 and 2 can be applied to any usual type of filling machine, since the tunnel only covers a portion of the infeed dial.

In some instances, the application of localized heat to other areas than the top portion of the container is found satisfactory; for example, where the beverage is packaged in a can.

Figure 3 shows a mechanism which may be interposed between a filling mechanism and a sealing mechanism to partially immerse a can in a body of hot water for the purpose of the present invention. The numeral Ill designates an endless conveyor to which cans move from the filling mechanism, this conveyor terminating adjacent a tank ll of suitably heated water. A conveyor 12' is positioned, above the outlet end of conveyor it! and extends over the tank 1|.

Conveyor 12 has forked hooks l3 pivoted thereto and as the conveyor 12 moves, these hooks will drop from a guide plate M to engage about the neck of a filled can on conveyor to move the can from the latter conveyor and carry it through the water in the tank ll. As shown, the central portion of the lower run of conveyor 12 is depressed to lower the can into the tank. The conveyor 12 will place the cans upon a conveyor 15, the hooks 13 being momentarily detained at the instant the can reaches a firm position on the latter conveyor by suitable trip means, not shown, for example, a pivoted arm lightly springv pressed to momentarily retard advancing movecan of beer for a few seconds, with the water at thirty seconds.

a temperature of from to F., depending upon the temperature of the beverage, will cause a compact and stable foam to fill the headspace of the container. If the can is immersed to a greater depth, the water temperature may be reduced. For example, it is found that with a can one-third immersed in water at 140 F., and with the beverage at 45 F., the headspace will be filled with a stable, controllable foam in With other conditions identical, immersion in water at 160 will fill the headspace in fifteen seconds.

As hereafter stated, the periods of heating just stated must'be reduced with some soft drinks. 7

It is to be understood that the type of foam which may be created by the present invention, at least with beer, i formed of very fine bubbles and is very compact due to the relatively slow heating, thereby substantially excluding all air from the container headspace. It is also extremely stable and will remain in place for several minutes. This type of foam is also controllable; that is, the formation of the foam will discontinue immediately or almost immediately theapplieation of heat is terminated. All of these characteristics distinguish the foaming obtained by the present invention from the foaming which may occur as the result of a general, as opposed to a localized, application of heat or the tapping or other agitation of the container and contents, for in the latter instances the foaming is sudden and violent and in extremely large bubbles which further increase in size as they move upwardly through the beverage. Also, foaming caused by these last-mentioned methods is uncontrollable and may continue indefinitely so that a large gas or liquid loss may occur and the foam may or may not remain in the headspace for a suitable period to permit sealing.

The foam which occurs with beer by the use of the present invention is formed of quite small bubbles and builds up relatively slowly. With most soft drinks, the bubbles are somewhat larger, form more rapidly, and the foam which results is not quit so stable, requiring that the bottle be capped as soon as possible after heating is discontinued, and also that the period of application of heat be reduced. Moreover, the controlled foaming which occurs with soft drinks varies with the different beverages, some foaming more rapidly than others and some, for example, ginger ale, producing a more stable foam.

The phraseology. employed in the specification is for the purpose of description and is not intended to limit the invention, the scope of the invention being indicated in the claims.

I claim:

1. A method of removing air from a receptacle containing a carbonated beverage, between the filling machine and sealing machine, comprising subjecting the beverage in an open receptacle to an elevated temperature materially below the boiling point of said beverage, by rapidly heating the exterior of the receptacle while maintaining the beverage at atmospheric pressure and at such temperature, for a sufficient period of time to cause foaming of the beverage and elimination of the air, and then as soon as the foam reaches the top of the receptacle, immediately sealing the latter and thereby preventing the loss of CO2 from the beverage.

2. The combination in a filling machine, of a container filling mechanism, a, container sealing mechanism, means to move a, container from the filling mechanism to the sealing mechanism, a body of water in the path of travel of a container between said mechanisms, and means to maintain the body of water at sufficient temperature to heat the container contents sufilciently to liberate 1 carbon dioxide therefrom and expel at least a part of the air from the space above such contents.

3. The combination in a filling machine, of a container filling mechanism, a container sealing mechanism, a body of Water between said mechanisms, means to engage a container leaving said filling mechanism and carry the same at least partly immersed in the water and position it adjacent the sealing mechanism, and means to maintain the body of Water at suflicient temperature to heat the container contents sufiiciently to liberate carbon dioxide therefrom and expel. at least a part of the air from the space above such contents.

4. A mechanism for liberating carbon dioxide from liquid within an open container comprising a water tank, means to engage a container and move the same partly immersed in the water in said tank, and means to maintain the water within said tank at suificient temperature to heat the container contents sufficiently to liberate carbon dioxide therefrom and expel at least a part of the air from the space above such contents.

SAMUEL HENRY AYERS. 

